Band-cutter and feeder.



G. I. BLAKLEY.

BAND CUTTER AND FEEDER.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 20, 1909.

963,2?0 Patented July 5 1910.

@Mmmtoz I s'ras BAND-CUTTER AND FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1910.

Application filed May 20, 1909. Serial No. 497,227.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES I. BLAKLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lamont, in the county of Grant and State of Oklahoma, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Band-Gutters andFeeders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to feed chutes of hay and straw stackers,threshers, carriers, etc, and particularly to means for holding andretarding the straw or hay being carried along the conveyer chains tothe beaters and cutting knives, and other like parts, the retardingmechanism being so arranged that the material shall be fed evenly andthoroughly to the band cutting knives and beaters.

The object of my invention is to provide adjustable, resilient fingerswhich extend down in the path of the moving straw or like material andact to retard the passage of the material along the conveyer chains.

This invention consists in the arrangement of parts and details ofconstruction as hereinafter set forth and more specifically stated inthe claims appended.

The drawings show the application of my invent-ion to the feed chute ofa threshing machine, and therein Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of afeed chute of a threshing machine with my invention applied thereto;and, Fig. 9. is a rear elevation of the chute with the springfingersattached.

Referring to the drawings, 2 designates the conveyer belt of an ordinarythreshing machine or other straw feeder. This conveyer belt isconstantly moving in the direction of the heaters 4 which are mountedupon a rotatable shaft 3 and in advance of the band cutters 6 which aremounted upon a shaft 5. It will be understood that this arrangement ofbeaters and band cutters is purely illustrative, as I do not wish tolimit the application of my invention to any particular form of a hay orstraw treating machine.

In advance of the heaters 4 I provide opposed upright standards 7 and 8,preferably formed of tubing, the lower ends of these standards beinginwardly and downwardly inclined or bent, as at 9, to fit the inclinedsides 9 of the chute. The standard 8, for a reason hereinafter stated,is of greater length than the standard 7.

Mounted in hearings in the standards 7 and 8 is the transverse shaft 10upon which are carried a plurality of forwardly and downwardly extendingfingers 11, these fingers or rods extending forward to a pointimmediately beneath the shaft 3. lVhile I may attach these fingers inany desired mannor to the shaft 10, preferably I form the upper end ofeach of the fingers into a coil 12, the extremity of the coil beinginserted through a transverse opening in the shaft 10 and then providedwith a nut 13 whereby the coil and its extended finger may be attachedrigidly to the shaft so as to turn with it when the shaft turns. Thereare, of course, as many of these spring fingers as may be deemednecessary, these fingers ex tending downwardly to a point just above theconveyer belt and being then bent slightly upward so as to prevent thehay or straw from catching or clogging, and permit the fingers to beraised to allow the conveyer to pass along their path and to carry thehay with it. It will be seen that each of the fingers is individuallyresilient and that therefore they will yield individually, but that atthe same time they will act to retard any large masses of straw whichmay pass along the conveyer and distribute the same before the passageof the straw to the heaters. In order to provide means whereby theresiliency of the fingers as a whole may be adjusted, I attach to theend of the shaft 10 a rearwardly PlOjGCtlIlg arm 14. The upper end ofthe standard 8 is provided with a projecting lug 15 which is perforatedfor the passage of the eye bolt 17 having thereon the wing nut 17 Acoiled spring 16 is attached to the extremity of the arm 14. It will beseen that by adjusting the bolt 17 by means of the wing nut 17 or in anyother desired manner, the tension of the spring will be either increasedor de creased, thereby drawing with more or less force on the arm letand thereby resisting with more or less force the partial rotation ofthe shaft 10. By this means I provide a series of spring fingers whichare individually resilient suificient to allow the passage of the strawalong the conveyer and yet retard the same, and in which the tension maybe increased as a whole without the neces sity of increasingindividually the tension of each finger. Not only would it beconsiderable trouble to individually increase the tension of each fingerand, indeed, al-

most impossible with a simple arrangement I means for adjusting thetension of the of spring such as I have shown, butthere would be greatliability of the tension being different for each of the fingers. Hence,it will be seen that my construction provides a very simple Way ofregulating the clownward pressure of the fingers without changing theirindividual resiliency and a way which permits all of the fingers to beeasily and quickly adjusted in the midst of the operation.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In band cutting and feeding mechanism, the combination with a chute,of a plurality of spring fingers extending downward and forward intosaid chute, each of said fingers being resiliently supported at itsbase, the fingers being entirely independent of each other from thepoint of attachment at the base to the extremity of the fingers, andeach finger having independent movement, and means whereby all of thespring fingers together may be resiliently depressed or elevated as awhole.

2. In band cutting and feeding mechanism, a chute, a shaft transverse tothe chute, a plurality of spring fingers attached at their rear ends tothe shaft and projecting downward and forward into the chute, each beingresiliently supported at its base on said shaft and each finger beingentirely independent of any other finger from its base to its extremity,a spring resisting the rotation of the shaft and the elevation of theextremities of all the fingers, and means for adjusting the tension ofthe spring.

3. In band cutting and feeding mechanism, a chute, a transverse rockshaft therein, a plurality of fingers projecting downward and forwardfrom the shaft and adapted to engage the straw in its passage throughthe chute, said fingers being entirely independent of each other fromtheir point of attachment to the shaft to their extremities, the rearends of said fingers being resiliently connected to the shaft forindependent movement, an arm projecting from the shaft, a springattached to the end of said arm, and

spring.

4. In mechanism of the class described, the combination with a chute, aseries of rotary heaters and a conveyer movable on the bottom of thechute to and past said beaters, standards attached to either side of thechute, a transverse shaft supported in the standards, a series ofresilient spring fingers mounted on said shaft and projecting forwardand downward toward the conveyer to a point immediately beneath theshaft of said beaters, said fingers being entirely independent of eachother and freely movable from their point of attachment to the shaft tothe extremities of the fingers, an arm on the extremity of the fingersupporting shaft, an ear in the upper end of the adjacent standard, anda spring attached at one end to said arm and at the other end to atension adjusting device passing through the ear.

5. The combination with a chute, a conveyer traversing the bottom of thechute, rotatable beaters and band cutters mounted in the chute above theconveyer, of standards attached to the sides of said shaft, a shaftmounted in said standards for rotation, an arm projecting from theshaft, a spring adj ustable at its upper end to one of said standardsand extending down to the extremity of the arm, a series of springfingers attached at one end to the shaft and extending forward. andtoward the said conveyer, the extremities of said fingers being coiledto form each a spiral, the extremity of the material forming the spiralextending transversely through said shaft, and a nut attaching thefingers to said shaft, said fingers being entirely independent of eachother from their point of attachment to the shaft to the extremities ofthe fingers.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

C. R. REED, H. A. HEBERLING.

